Savannah Guthrie teary as she returns amid mother's disappearance

Savannah Guthrie became emotional on air as she addressed returning to the Today show after her mother Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. “It’s really hard to come back. I’ve been trying so hard to hold it together and I promise I will — this show and this hour especially is about joy,” she told co‑host Jenna Bush Hager during the fourth hour of the program.

Guthrie said the show serves as a small respite, but the missing‑person case remains at the forefront of her mind. She admitted, “I cry every morning on the way to work and I cry every morning on the way home,” and acknowledged that if she had another kind of job she might not have tried to return.

Because she is close with Bush Hager, Guthrie said it felt difficult to be on a program with her without being honest. “It’s hard when you’re with your best friend to not be real,” she said, adding that people shouldn’t assume she isn’t thinking about her mother.

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